People and Places

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America named Deputy Secretary of Commerce David A. Sampson to serve as the association’s president and chief executive officer. Sampson take over the reins of PCI on Sept. 4.

PCI represents more than 1,000 member companies that write almost 40 percent of the nation’s property and casualty insurance. PCI and its affiliates have a staff of 240 and a $40 million budget. It has offices in suburban Chicago and Washington, D.C, seven regional offices, and has lobbyists in every state.

Sampson has served as the deputy secretary of the Commerce Department since July 2005. As the department’s chief operating officer he manages a $6.5 billion budget and 38,000 employees in 13 operating units.

Previously, Sampson served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and managed the Economic Development Administration’s $400 million budget and $2.5 billion portfolio of federal economic grants and loans. Prior to joining the Bush Administration in August 2001, Sampson worked in both the public and private sectors. Governor George W. Bush appointed him chair of the Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Development. He also served as vice chair of the Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission. Before beginning his career in public service, Sampson was the president and chief executive officer of the Arlington, Texas Chamber of Commerce.

Until Sampson takes over June Holmes will continue to serve as the association’s interim CEO, a post she has held since Ernie Csiszar resigned as president and chief executive officer of the association effective Sept. 30, 2006. Csiszar was appointed to the position in September 2004. Holmes will return to her previous position of chief operating officer.

Sampson is a graduate of David Lipscomb University and earned his doctorate at Abilene Christian University. He completed the Program for Senior Executives at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1999.

TAPCO Underwriters Inc., announced that Ken Schneider and Bill McCord have joined the company as vice presidents of marketing and underwriting.

Schneider and McCord join TAPCO with decades of experience in the insurance industry. As vice presidents, the two will focus on expanding TAPCO’s reach into Texas and California markets and aid in cultivating the company’s aggressive and strategic growth strategy.

Most recently, McCord served as senior vice president and director of the personal lines division of Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Burns & Wilcox. During his time there, McCord directed the large-scale expansion of the division from three branches to 31 that resulted in a more than 30-fold growth in annual written premiums for the company.

Schneider served as vice president and director of product development with Burns & Wilcox. Schneider was responsible for directing programs to identify new and emerging areas of excess and surplus lines insurance products and coverages.

Michelle Lafferty recently joined Hylant Group as vice president in the Cleveland, Ohio, office serving as the corporate claims practice leader and claims counsel., the company announced. Lafferty is responsible for overseeing the claims division and coordinating best practices to ensure clients receive the best service. She will also act as a client advocate and liaison with insurance carriers. In addition to those responsibilities, she is a member of Hylant’s Large Account Practice and Hylant’s Executive Risk Practice.

Prior to joining Hylant, Lafferty worked as a claims attorney for Genesis Professional Liability Managers in Cleveland. She was also senior counsel for Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP.

Brown Smith Wallace announced the promotion of Alan Fine, CPA, JD, to member. Fine’s new role as a member recognizes his more than 14 years experience serving companies within the insurance industry.

According to the company statement, Fine is responsible for serving insurers writing fidelity, personal and commercial lines, medical, life insurance, other professional malpractice coverages, and captive insurance companies.

In addition to his new responsibilities, Fine will continue to co-manage the Insurance Services Practice.

Prior to his arrival at Brown Smith Wallace, Fine was a senior manager in the Insurance Tax Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, serving clients in St. Louis, Indianapolis and throughout California. His experience includes a 24-month rotation in the New York practice office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he consulted with the top insurance clients.

Seattle-based Safeco has expanded its sales organization from five to nine regions, and has named executives to lead two of the new territories.

Chris Allen will oversee the Midwest region. Allen comes to Safeco from Progressive Insurance, where he was director of independent agency distribution. In that role, he headed a sales organization responsible for working with thousands of independent agencies in the Midwest and Northeast.

States served in Safeco’s Upper Midwest region are: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Its Midwest region includes Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska;

Other new Safeco sales regions are:

Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington.

California: California.

West: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

South Central: Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Atlantic: District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Southeast: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina.

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